Meetings with Remarkable Buddhists: Socially Engaged Buddhism in Japan in the 21st Century
By Jonathan S Watts
Meetings with Remarkable Buddhists: Socially Engaged Buddhism in Japan in the 21st CenturyJul 15, 2022
International Cooperation & Advocacy with Ms. Mika Edaki
Mika is the Director of the AYUS International Buddhist Cooperation Network. AYUS is part of the family of Japanese Buddhist NGOs formed from the late 1970s to 1990s to address a variety of humanitarian crises across Asia. AYUS was created by a group of Jodo Pure Land denomination priests as an interdenominational Buddhist NGO. It specializes in supporting other grassroots NGOs who often struggle to gain funding for their work in local areas in Asia and other crisis points in the world like Palestine and Afghanistan. Mika has been an active participant in both JNEB and INEB activities, especially supporting humanitarian causes in Myanmar over the decades and the suffering of nuclear disaster victims in Fukushima. Mika has also partnered with other female Buddhists in Japan to raise awareness of discrimination and structural barriers to women's empowerment in Buddhism.
Buddhist SDGs from the Ground Up: Community Building and Environmental Activism with Rev. Hidehito Okochi
This special video, created by a group of graduate students in the Erasmus Mundus Joint European Master in Environmental Studies, presents to us the problem of the "Disconnected Society" (無縁社会 mu-en shakai) in Japan and the wider global phenomenon of societies built on unsustainable corporate capitalism that damages the outer ecology of our planet as well as the inner ecology of our spirits. The work of Rev. Okochi at his Juko-in eco-temple in Tokyo shows a comprehensive response to this crisis through a form of holistic and integrated Dharmic development (bhavana 開発 kai-hotsu). Rev. Okochi has been a leader in the religious based anti-nuclear energy movement in Japan since the early 1990s, a long time activist in child's rights and protection issues, and an advocate for social justice issues in Japan. His comprehensive eco-temple activities created the inspiration for the Eco-Temple Community Development Project of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB), a network of diverse eco-temples across Asia. The video concludes with a look at The Smart Pagoda, an affiliate eco-temple in Thailand. Click here for Youtube video.
Suicide Prevention with Rev. Soin Fujio
Rev. Fujio is the abbot of Doku-on-ji temple in Yokosuka city, south of Yokohama and near a huge U.S. naval base. Born in his family’s Rinzai temple, he spent some twenty years in the Japanese banking world serving in overseas branches in the U.S., Singapore, and Thailand. Upon ordaining and returning to his home temple, he began counseling the mentally ill and suicidal, while also regularly teaching Zen meditation and Tai-chi to Japanese and international students. He is a co-founder of the ecumenical Association of Buddhist Priests confronting Self-Death and Suicide, where he trains young priests in counseling work. He also works at the Yokosuka City Hall as a “gatekeeper”, helping at risk individuals find the proper social resources to deal with mental illness, family problems, and other social challenges.
Child Poverty with Rev. Shinmyo Noda
Rev. Noda is the vice-abbot of Rinsho-ji temple located in Kasugai, a suburb of Nagoya City. He completed his training and gaining certification as a Rinsho Buddhist chaplain in 2020. During his training, he did his residency work under Rev. Gakugen Yoshimizu and the Hitosaji One Spoonful Association supporting the homeless in northeast Tokyo. He completed his training at an intensive care nursing home in Nagoya. While being active in the Association of Religious Professionals Confronting Life, a network for suicide prevention based in Nagoya, his main activities are as a leader in the regional network of the Temple Snack Club (お寺おやつクラブ otera-oyatsu kurabu) providing food and basic support for children of single-parent families living in poverty.
End-of-Life Care & Buddhist Naikan Therapy with Rev. Mari Sengoku (Jodo Shin Pure Land Hongan-ji denomination)
Rev. Sengoku was the first Buddhist chaplain at the Vihara Hongwanji Nursing Home and Asoka Vihara Clinic for terminal patients, established by the Jodo Shin Hongan-ji denomination in 2008 in Joyo City, Kyoto. She presently is a chaplain trainer and supervisor for the Rinsho Buddhism Chaplaincy Training Program and is the founding director of the Awakening Mind & Body Naikan Center in Tottori.